eating from my garden, yay!

[rainbowgardener]

Last night at dinner time, I went out in my garden with a bowl. Came back with cabbage leaves, broccoli leaves (that's something I learned here--somehow it had never occurred to me to eat the broccoli leaves, don't know why not, they're both brassicas and the seedlings look nearly identical at first), leaves and petals of wild violets, lilac flowers, agastache (anise hyssop) leaves, and garlic mustard leaves (the stuff is good for something-- think I can eat enough of it to eliminate it from my garden?). Washed it, chopped it, and threw it all in the salad I had made. Wonderful! It really is spring I'm not sure why it makes me so happy, but there's something so primeval and earth mother-y to go gathering like that....

[Adrien]

I know the feeling! it's incredible how veggies and fruits you grow in your garden taste so much better then the staff we buy..I guess it's partially because they really do taste better, but partially is psychic
P.S. Garlic mustard can be used to make garlic mustard vinegar or pesto. Just remember to taste the leaves before using, especially as the season progresses. Once the weather becomes warm the leaves become increasingly bitter.

[The Helpful Gardener]

Yeah Adrien; any of the Brassicas get bitter after flowering (bolting)...

Congrats RG (said the bitter cold weather guy, with hardly a plant in the garden yet)...



HG

[elevenplants]

Had a HUGE salad from my lettuce, spinach, radish leaves (young and tender are spicy and delicious), green onions, and radishes...fed 7 people from this salad and had some left. The lettuce is so prolific this year, growing it in a raised bed and it is out-performing everything else at this point. I got the 'heatwave' blend from Cook's Garden (I think). And my plots are smallish! Nothing beats being able to just go out and score food right outta your own little space.

...can't wait for those maters!!!

Rebecca

[kylie77]

I'm so jeleous as I'm nowhere near being able to eat any of the veg yet! But sounds just lovely!

Last year was the first year we ever planted anything, and now I'm hooked! It was so awesome to be able to walk out back and pick the veg for dinner! There is something very special about it. So rewarding to know you grew it yourself, no weird chemicals on the food, and the taste is a million times better! I had neighbourhood kids coming over all the time to have a few peas! lo (open backyard).

[BrianSkilton]

Yeah, my garden isn't even started here in good ol' south dakota...we have to wait, it may snow again soon lol.....in April, it already has once, who knows.

[!potatoes!]

harvesting greens off of a few overwintered turnips, but not much else...yet.

[2cents]

Rainbow,
Congrats
I'm also Ohio, had asparagus last night. Another helping is on the way later in the week. Also over wintered green onions are being picked.

March 7th the earliest I've ever put out beans, in a 10' row a few came up and caved into the frost and light flurries, less than 10 of them. A couple of those are struggling to hang on. BUT.......the rest of the row is starting to shoot up, six weeks after planting. Yeah, there will be beans in by June. The first ones up were all on the south end of the row.

Potatoes are also up this week.
It is time to put the rest in.

[hendi_alex]

We are usually able to harvest lettuce in February in this area, with use of a cold frame but didn't invest the energy for that this year. We have been picking arugala for about a month now. More recently the radishes and varous lettuce as well as spinach have started producing. I agree, those home picked salads taste better and fresher than the store bought. Also a person doesn't have to worry about contamination with the home grown. But it is the intangible that sets the home grown off as special. Here is this nice salad as part of our meal, and we planted the seeds, grew the plants, pinched the leaves...... Kind of like having a baby. Something that only we can do, for no one can do it for us and still generate that exact feeling.

[applestar]

Isn't it great? My 4'x4' extra-high raised bed has been the best producer so far. It's 4 cedar 2x4's stacked up but the soil is only at the top of the bottom two. On the North West and North East sides, I wrapped a folded over heavy plastic sheeting covering the wood AND the border fence, and all along the South East side border fence, stood up plastic egg cartons (the 3-fold kind) held in place with a bit of string. I then covered the top with a floating cover, initially doubled, tightly held down by wrapping a couple of tomato stakes on either end. Since this bed is on a slight slope (5º or so) facing South West it's "almost" a cold frame. Vegs in there are twice as big as the vegs planted in the open. I've been harvesting lettuce out of there and radishes should be ready soon (I've been eating the cullings). Now that the vegs are getting bigger, I also rooted out the chickweed and had that in my salad the other day.

I tried sowing Provider (early cold hardy bush bean) on April 2, protected under a floating cover. They were just starting to lift their shoots after a couple of days of 70º sunny days, but now the temps down to 50's so they'll be slow going until this weekend when it's supposed to get warm again. My Nintoku Giant (broadbean and I thought was supposed to be planted with cold-weather crops so was sowed on March 22) is also juuust starting to come up.

Early planting can be rewarding, but it also takes a lot of patience!

2cents -- I dithered and folded and didn't plant asparagus -- definitely on the list for next year!

[smokensqueal]

Now I feel a bit bumbed. This being really only my second true year gardening and things aren't doing so well. I'm not sure if it's me or the weather. I got some green in my garden but nothing seems to really be growing. I've tried to follow the package closer and find out times to plant and things like that and I'm not sure what's going on. I just hope that my warm season plants do better.

Congrats to everyone who's eating out of your gardens. Maybe one day I'll get there.

[The Helpful Gardener]

What does your gut tell you, Smoke? What do you think is the issue?

HG

[smokensqueal]

HG: I have no idea. Last year everything seemed fine. I have very few issues. Maybe I'm just getting to excited over nothing. For the most part everything seems healthy. Some of the things that didn't grow I have a good idea why it didn't. But then again at this time last year I was just getting the garden and did more warm weather crops. I'll have to go back and calculate how long things have been in the ground. Maybe I'm just to impatient. It is only mid April.

[The Helpful Gardener]

Now we are getting somewhere...

Warm weather crops in early can't be expected to jump because we are ready this year. The weather is getting a little flukey but my frost date is still almost a month off. Can't expect maters and peppers to be jumpin' just yet...

Patience, grasshopper...

HG

[Rob]

I've managed to steam a few broccoli heads (a little snack for my wife and I), gnaw on a couple of radishes, and have been using radish greens and some romaine on my hamburgers. That's about it.

But today, everything exploded. It's still been cool here in Arizona, until yesterday. It's warmed up considerably, and is not expected to go back down until September.
Amazing how fast my garden responded; literally overnight it went gangbusters.
I expect to be macking down on some good fresh garden stuff soon, very soon...

*rubs hands and laughs manically*

[The Helpful Gardener]

THERE it is...

Patience, Smoke; if Arizona is just poppin then you shouldn't be too far away...

HG

[The Helpful Gardener]

There it is Smoke, if Arizoona is just getting good you have a little longer to wait, but not much longer...

HG

[smokensqueal]

Just learned that our area's average temp for April is suppose to be 56 but this year it's averaging 48 or 49. Not many night with frost but the days never really warmed up. But if the forecast is correct we will finally get some sun and warmth this weekend. Maybe 80!

I'll have to get some pics uploaded and see what everyone else thinks they look like.